Dissident Spotlight: Maryam Marof Arwin
Maryam Marof Arwin is a dissident from Afghanistan who leads two of the country's premier women's rights organizations.
After the Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021, Maryam Marof Arwin founded the Purple Saturdays movement. It was a reaction to the return of Taliban rule and its medieval restrictions on women.
Recent Purple Saturdays protests include events in support of female soldiers who face harassment and sometimes murder at the hands of the Taliban. Purple Saturdays has also organized street protests and, when the street protests were met with violence, indoor protests against the Taliban’s policies toward women.
These protests are predominantly organized online through messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. However, this isn’t just an online movement. Arwin has organized thousands of Afghan women to protest for rights they enjoyed before the Taliban’s return. Those rights include the right to education, freedom of movement, and protection from arbitrary detention.
Arwin’s passion comes not only from personal experience. Her involvement with women and children goes back to her first NGO: Afghanistan Women’s and Children Strengthen Welfare Organization (AWCSWO).
Maryam Marof Arwin’s First Organization
In May 2017, Arwin founded AWCSWO. Its focus was providing resources to women and children affected by violence in Afghanistan.
Even before the Taliban’s return to rule, Afghanistan was wracked by conflict from insurgent and anti-government groups. The Tablian was one of several violent groups. ISIS-K remained active in some parts of the country. Local warlords could rally support for attacks on the government. Though ideologically diverse, these groups often targeted schools, health clinics, and other government-funded infrastructure.
AWCSWO focused on a few ways to alleviate the consequences of local violence. On its website, it lists:
Realization of the provisions of human rights, especially the rights of women and children
Providing facilities in the field of education for women and girls
Access of women and children to health and hygiene
Victims of violence have access to mental health counseling
Arwin’s early work with this organization, combined with her media career, positioned her well to lead the Purple Saturdays movement and continue agitating for the rights of Afghanistan’s women and girls.
Lessons from Arwin’s Resistance Work
In response to 2023 reports of rising suicides among Afghan girls and women, a Purple Saturdays press release stated:
“The deteriorating living standards in Afghanistan, particularly for women, are cited as the main reason for the spike in suicides. The ban on education and employment imposed by the Taliban has led to widespread depression and exacerbated the already dire economic conditions faced by families living in poverty. Forced marriages, domestic violence, and the lack of social opportunities further contribute to the despair and hopelessness experienced by Afghan women.”
Much of Arwin’s work is out of public view for American audiences. But her pursuit for a better life for all Afghan women is a reminder of how tenacious resistance to tyranny must be and how threatening civic organization is to illegitimate rulers.
Other activists like Arwin have been jailed, tortured, and killed. It’s dangerous to protest the Taliban’s demand for women to remain limited by the regime’s religious doctrine. However, when one group’s fantasy robs the humanity of its citizens, the risk of fighting back is the only one to take.